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Riding the `convict train' to the end of the world

A haunting blast from the small red steam engine pierces the cold air and, with a sudden jolt, the &quot;Train at the End of the World&quot; rolls slowly out of the station.

Ushuaia is the capital of Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands provinces, and is the starting point for many research voyages to the Antarctic. (CLAUDIA CAPOS PHOTO)

By Claudia CaposSpecial to the Star

Sat., Jan. 16, 2010

USHUAIA, Argentina–A haunting blast from the small red steam engine pierces the cold air and, with a sudden jolt, the "Train at the End of the World" rolls slowly out of the station.

Ahead, the tracks wind off into dense woodlands where we begin our journey back into history.

The train's colourful coaches are narrow. The seats are hard and cramped. But no one expects much in the way of luxury. After all, we are riding aboard a replica of the convict train that carried exiled prisoners into the forest to chop wood during the early 1900s when Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, was a penal colony.

The forced hard labour of these luckless souls helped to build the streets, bridges and buildings of what is today a thriving metropolis on Tierra del Fuego's Isla Grande.

Home to some 65,000 inhabitants, Ushuaia is surrounded by the Martial Mounts and nestles snugly in a cove overlooking the Beagle Channel.

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It's the capital of the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands, which is separated from the mainland by the Straits of Magellan.

A Bavarian clock tower and brightly painted buildings greet newcomers who arrive by cruise ship, as we did aboard the Celebrity Infinity after rounding Cape Horn. In the distance, the craggy point of Mount Olivia stands as a bright beacon to bold adventure-seekers – and as a stoic warning to the faint-of-heart.

Harvey and Harriet Ellis of Warminster, Pa., weren't deterred by the eight days it took to cruise south from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. So, why did they travel all the way to the end of the world?

"It's the last outpost," replies Harriet. "We're living in a time when middle-class people can travel to places that were impossible to reach even a century ago, except for the very well-to-do. We have the opportunity, so why not go?"

A ride aboard the historic Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino, which restarted operations in 1994, offers visitors a glimpse into Ushuaia's penitentiary past, as well as stunning vistas of Isla Grande's rugged peaks and lush valleys.

The narrow-gauge railway snakes along an eight-kilometre route through Tierra del Fuego National Park, a 63,130-hectare coastal wildlife area set aside in 1960 to preserve rare species of plants and birds, including the Andean condor and the black-browed albatross.

The train departs three times daily on a one-hour-and-40-minute round-trip excursion from the "End of the World" station with its signature blue, peaked roof and travels as far as the national park station before returning.

Our tour guide, Jackie, tells us that the Argentine government established the penal colony at Ushuaia in 1896 as a way to populate and ensure sovereignty over Argentina's portion of Tierra del Fuego, which it shares with Chile.

Construction of a permanent jail began in 1902, and a train that ran on wooden rails was set up to transport building materials.

At the beginning of 1910, the 60-centimetre gauge Decauville railway, known locally as the "convict train," was put into service. It ran until 1952.

The penitentiary, El Presidio, imprisoned petty thieves and notorious criminals alike for decades until it was officially closed in 1947.

Fortunately, the shadowy origins of the railroad are eclipsed by the sight of snow-crested mountains that serve as silent sentinels guarding the world's southerly fringe.

We follow the Pipo River past a reconstructed Yamana Indian camp, where the park's first indigenous people once lived.

A brief stop at the Cascada La Macarena station gives us a few minutes to admire and photograph the rushing waterfall tumbling down through the forest.

Then the train continues onward through a "cemetery" of trees, where grey, weather-beaten stumps remain as nature's tombstones after chain gangs clear-cut the woods decades ago. The journey ends back at the "End of the World" station, which doubles as a gift shop.

Today, the convict train is the last vestige of Ushuaia's early years. El Presidio has been transformed from a dank prison into a maritime museum, and the city has gained popularity as a jumping-off point for tourist and research excursions to Antarctica. Along San Martin Ave., wooden-front shops sell Inca Red (rhodocrosite) and silver jewellery, sheepskin vests and "end of the world" souvenirs.

At night, local restaurants with steamy windows serve up prized king crab and thick steaks grilled à la parrilla.

Residents still relish their unique geography and frontier spirit, however, and have posted a prominent sign near the port that proclaims: "Ushuaia: End of the world, beginning of everything."

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